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Iwi

Iwi (Māori pronunciation: [ˈiwi]) are the largest social units in New Zealand Māori society. The Māori language word iwi means "people" or "nation",[1] and is often translated as "tribe",[2] or a confederation of tribes. The word iwi is both singular and plural in Māori. Most Māori in pre-European times gave their primary allegiance to relatively small groups such as hapū ("sub-tribe")[3] and whānau ("family").[4]

Iwi groups trace their ancestry to the original Polynesian migrants who, according to tradition, arrived from Hawaiki. Some iwi cluster into larger groupings based on genealogical tradition, known as waka (literally: "canoes", with reference to the original migration voyages), but these super-groupings generally serve symbolic rather than practical functions. Each iwi contains a number of hapū. For example, the Ngāti Whātuaiwi has hapū including Te Uri-o-Hau, Te Roroa, Te Taou, and Ngāti Whātua ki Ōrākei.

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In Māori, as well as in many other Polynesian languages,[citation needed]iwi literally means "bone". Māori may refer to returning home after travelling or living elsewhere as "going back to the bones" — literally to the burial-areas of the ancestors. Māori author Keri Hulme's novel, The Bone People (1985), has a title linked directly to the dual meaning of bone and "tribal people".

Many names of iwi begin with Ngāti or with Ngāi (from ngā āti and ngā ai, both meaning roughly "the offspring of"). Ngāti has become a productive morpheme in New Zealand English to refer to groups of people: examples are Ngāti Pākehā (Pākehā as a group), Ngāti Poneke (Māori who have migrated into the Wellington region), and Ngāti Rānana (Māori living in London). Ngāti Tūmatauenga, "Tribe of Tūmatauenga" (the god of war), is the official Māori-language name of the New Zealand Army. Ngā Opango, "Black Tribe", being a Māori-language name for the All Blacks.

Each iwi has a generally recognised territory (rohe), but many of these overlap, sometimes completely.[5] This has added a layer of complication to the long-running discussions and court cases about how to resolve historical Treaty-claims. The length of coastline emerged as one factor in the final (2004) legislation to allocate fishing-rights in settlement of claims relating to commercial fisheries.

Iwi can become a prospective vehicle for ideas and ideals of self-determination and/or tino rangatiratanga. Thus the "Rules of the Maori Party" (Māori Party Constitution) mentions in its preamble "the dreams and aspirations of tangata whenua to achieve self-determination for whānau, hapū and iwi within their own land".[6] Some Tūhoe envisage self-determination in specifically iwi-oriented terms.[7]

Increasing urbanisation of Māori has led to a situation where a significant percentage do not identify with an iwi. The following extract from a 2000 High Court of New Zealand judgment (discussing the process of settling fishing-rights) illustrates some of the issues:

... 81 percent of Māori now live in urban areas, at least one-third live outside their tribal influence, more than one-quarter do not know their iwi or for some reason do not choose to affiliate with it, at least 70 percent live outside the traditional tribal territory and these will have difficulties, which in many cases will be severe, in both relating to their tribal heritage and in accessing benefits from the settlement. It is also said that many Māori reject tribal affiliation because of a working class unemployed attitude, defiance and frustration. Related but less important factors, are that a hapu may belong to more than one iwi, a particular hapu may have belonged to different iwi at different times, the tension caused by the social and economic power moving from the iwi down rather than from the hapu up, and the fact that many iwi do not recognise spouses and adoptees who do not have kinship links.[8]

In the 2006 census, 16 percent of the 643,977 people who claimed Māori ancestry did not know their iwi. Another 11% did not state their iwi, or only stated a general geographical region or merely gave a canoe-name.[9] Initiatives like the Iwi Helpline are trying to make it easier for people to identify their iwi,[10] and the proportion who "don’t know" dropped relative to the previous censuses.[9]

Some established pan-tribal organizations may also undercut the otherwise important iwi. The Ratana Church, for example, operates across iwi divisions, and the Māori King Movement, although principally Waikato/Tainui, aims to transcend some iwi functions in a wider grouping.

Many iwi operate or are affiliated with media organisations. Most of these belong to Te Whakaruruhau o Nga Reo Irirangi Māori, the National Māori Radio Network, a group of radio stations which receive contestable Government funding from Te Māngai Pāho to operate on behalf of iwi and hapu. Under their funding agreement, the stations must produce programmes in the local Māori language and actively promote local Māori culture.[11]

A two-year Massey University survey of 30,000 people, published in 2003, indicated 50 percent of Māori in Iwi Radio Network broadcast areas listened to an iwi station.[12] A Auckland University of Technology study in 2009 suggested the potential audience of iwi radio stations would increase as the growing New Zealand Māori population tried to keep a connection to their culture, family history, spirituality, community, language and iwi.[13]

The Victoria University of Wellington Te Reo Māori Society campaigned for Māori radio, helping to set up Te Reo o Poneke, the first Māori-owned radio operation, using airtime on Wellington student radio station Radio Active in 1983.[14] Twenty one iwi radio stations were set up between 1989 and 1994, receiving Government funding in accordance with a Treaty of Waitangi claim.[15] This group of radio stations formed various networks, becoming Te Whakaruruhau o Nga Reo Irirangi Māori, funded by Te Māngai Pāho.[16]

^Back cover: Ballara, A. (1998). Iwi: The dynamics of Māori tribal organisation from c.1769 to c.1945. Wellington, New Zealand: Victoria University Press.
- See also: Durie, A. (1999). Emancipatory Māori education: Speaking from the heart. In S. May (Ed.), Indigenous community education (pp. 67–78). Philadelphia, PA: Multilingual Matters.
- See also: Healey, S. M. (2006). The nature of the relationship of the Crown in New Zealand with iwi Māori. Unpublished doctoral dissertation, University of Auckland, New Zealand.
- See also: Sharp, A. (1999). What if value and rights lie foundationally in groups? The Maori case. Critical Review of International, Social and Political Philosophy, 2(2), 1–28.

^"The Rules of the Maori Party". The Māori Party. Retrieved 2008-09-07. The Maori Party is born of the dreams and aspirations of tangata whenua to achieve self-determination for whānau, hapū and iwi within their own land; to speak with a strong, independent and united voice; and to live according to kaupapa handed down by our ancestors. The vision for the Maori Party will be based on these aspirations [...]

^Tahana, Yvonne (2008-08-09). "Tuhoe leader backs self rule". The New Zealand Herald. Auckland: APN. Retrieved 2008-09-07. Calls from Maori activist Tame Iti for self-government arrangements for the Tuhoe tribe similar to those Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland have in the UK have been backed by a leader likely to negotiate the tribe's Treaty settlement. ... While other iwi have focused on economic transfer of assets as a way of achieving tino rangatiratanga or self-determination, Tuhoe have spelled out their intention to negotiate constitutional issues.